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Euro parliament wants 50 cent limit on data roaming

The European Commission and the European Parliament both agree that there should be a limit on tariffsfor data roaming. While the Commission had proposed a limit of 1 euro per megabyte, the Parliament wants to go further and put the limit at 50 eurocent.

To avoid the so called ‘bill shocks’, the unexpectedly high roaming bills, the Parliament wants to force providers to introduce a price limit. Users should receive a warning when 80% of this limit is reached, and again when the total limit is reached.

Other decisions made for mobile included:
– Listening to voicemail across the borders should be free (as of 1 July 2010)
– International SMS sending should cost maximum 11 cent (as of 1 July 2009)
– International calling should be limited to 40 cent per minute (as of July 2010)
– Receiving calls internationally should be limited to 16 cent per minute

These issues still have to be discussed in plenary and agreed upon by ministers from the member states.